The Backpack Reviews

Reviews & Ratings Explained

92%

Rating

1741 Total Reviews

83%Value For Money

95%Security

95%Location

93%Staff

93%Atmosphere

94%Cleanliness

91%Facilities

The rating percentage is calculated from customers who booked within the last 12 months.

All ratings and reviews are based on the feedback and opinions of the customers who submitted them and do not express the opinions of Hostelworld.com. This way, you get an up-to-the-minute opinion of just how good a hostel really is. Read our review guidelines »

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91%

Great place to stay, the staff are incredibly helpful and friendly, however the only bad things are the food for sale is priced very high for what it is, also the price increases when you book anything through the hostel. Expect to pay roughly 1/4 to 1/3 more for anything you book.
Book activities directly with the operator.
Otherwise it's a great place.

Hi there. Thank you for your review of our hostel. We are glad that your overall stay was charming. We apologise that you found our food in the kitchen to be pricey but we do serve free-range and organic food only, as well as our beers are all craft beers. With regards to our tours; the cost we sell them at is not increased, the cost is what it is because the tour operators we support are all involved with responsible tourism. Hope to see you again soon. Kind Regards, The Backpack Team

89%

Very nice, the pool and the view to table mountain is amazing and it's not that far to the top of long street.

Hello, thanks for the review! We are happy to hear you loved staying with us and exploring Cape Town and its surroundings. We hope to see you again soon! Kind Regards, The Backpack Team

77%

Nice place to be and they can afford to be much more expensive then the other hostels. The rooms are cleaned up every day and you get a towel. Unfortunately someone stole my stuff from the kitchen - only the ones they could you use - the rest i found in the common space. After all it's a hostel - you can get similar locations far more cheaper.

Hi there, thanks for taking the time to review us. We do have higher room prices that other hostels and that is because we strive to have fair wages for all our staff as well as involving ourselves in the community projects. Pity about the food situation, must have had some hungry guests around! We hope we can see you again soon! Kind Regards, The Backpack Team

89%

On a scale of 0-10 My stay would be an 8. I have to mention that the bathroom had a terrible smell could have been from the drain. Staff was friendly and helpful.

Hello there, thank you for the review of our hostel. We are sorry to hear about the bathroom smell, we do have old drainage systems, so we will take a look into this problem immediately. Other than that, we are pleased to hear you had a great time and that the staff could help out as much as possible. Kind Regards, The Backpack Team

86%

Very nice hostel, good location - 5 mins to Long St. Nice pool area. But it doesn't have aircon and is quite expensive. Staff were friendly and nice.

Hello, thanks for the review! We are happy to hear you enjoyed your stay with us and also enjoyed wondering around Cape Town and its surroundings. Our prices are higher than other backpackers in Cape Town and this is because we offer fair wages to our staff and are involved in community projects. We are so happy to help out wherever we can! We hope to see you again soon. Kind Regards, The Backpack Team

100%

I absolutely loved my 4-day stay at the Backpack. I had a lovely private room and shared bathroom; I really appreciated the provided shampoo and towels; to pay hostel prices and have a swimming pool in a lovely little garden overlooked by Table Mountain was amazing; all the staff were extremely friendly and helpful; the restaurant has great coffee and food; and all other facilities (kitchen, safes, etc) were excellent; and the tours/advice were spot on. I heartily recommend it.

Hi there! Thanks for the lovely review. It is such a pity that your stay with us was only 4 days short! We are thrilled you loved your stay with us and appreciated the extras we have at our hostel for our guests. We hope to see you again soon! Kind Regards, The Backpack Team.

91%

Once you check in you don't want to leave again. The staff is friendly and helps you with everything. The communal lounge area is situated directly at the entrance, so you meet new friends very fast if you stay a little bit there. Long street, the place where most of the bars, clubs and restaurants are, is just a short walk away.

Hi there, thanks for taking the time to review us! We are so pleased to hear you enjoyed your stay with us; making new friends and enjoying the Long Street city life! We hope to welcome you back soon. Kind Regards, The Backpack Team.

91%

A really nice place to stay in terms of atmosphere location and helpfulness of staff. We were here for 5 days and i could have easily stayed longer. It is situated nicely between table mountain up the hill, the main party street adjacent and the whalf down the hill. Thanks for the fun times

Great hostel. Staff were very friendly and helpful. The place was immaculately clean. Nice big common areas. Bathrooms were great. Only drawback is that you can't really walk to anywhere safely in the evenings, but this is more a reflection on Cape Town than the hostel specifically.

Hi there, thanks for the review. We are pleased that you had a good stay with us. Unfortunately, Cape Town's streets are busy and dark at night and we prefer for our guests to get safe transport rather than to take risks. We hope to see you again soon. Kind Regards, The Backpack Team.

100%

A backpackers like no other (and I've been to a lot). The place is gorgeous, comfortable, clean and well situated. The staff very helpful. It's a place that you can enjoy fellow travellers in the bar or find your own space to relax. They become your personal concierge's the second you arrive. Most importantly they respect and give back to the community; so your money and time in South Africa not only enriches your mind; but South Africans as a whole. I'd highly recommend it!

Hi there, thanks for the review of our hostel. We are humbled by your wonderful review. We do strive to give our staff fair wages as well as immerse ourselves into the community and help out as much as possible to the locals who have not been as privileged as we. We hope to welcome you back into our hostel soon. Kind Regards, The Backpack Team.

89%

Can see why this hostel has won multiple awards for best hostel in Africa for years in a row. They contribute to the society, stimulate their customers to donate and bring second hand clothing etc with them to donate as well.
The price was a bit on the high side i thought and when i miscalculated the # of days i stayed, i could not get a refund. Quite inflexible line management. Everything needs to be approved by the manager on site. I guess this is how this motel supports the local community.

Hi there, thanks for the lovely review. We are so pleased to hear that you enjoyed your stay with us. We do work by a strict cancellation policy, which is stated on our website for guests to see. But you are correct, our higher prices are indeed due to the fact that we offer more; we help the community and support our staff with fair wages. We hope that we can welcome you back again soon. Kind Regards, The Backpack Team

94%

The hostel itself was great, however, it was disappointing that the booking that we had made in April was not available. The reception staff, Lisa and Melanie, handled this very well, however they assumed that management had informed us of this error. They continued to try to resolve this the next day. The room we were placed in was satisfactory, however was not what we had booked. I was disappointed that management had not informed us of this problem before we arrived.

Hi there, thank you for taking the time to review us! We do apologise about the booking confusion. We had updated our reservation system and some bookings may have been lost in the process. We are so glad that Lisa and Melanie could help you with a room and that you were still able to still stay with us in the end. We hope to see you again soon. Kind Regards, The Backpack Team

94%

Great atmosphere, friendly staff but it is expensive in terms of backpackers options. However, I did enjoy my stay, comfortable, clean beds, secure location, great vibe and great location. Would stay again!

Hey, thanks for the review of The Backpack! We are so thrilled to hear that you enjoyed your stay with us; that you were able to join in on the good vibes and explorations of Cape Town. Our prices are higher than other backpackers in the area and this is due to us paying out staff fair wages as well as being involved in community projects. We hope to see you again soon. Kind Regards, The Backpack Team.

100%

Great place, great location, great staff, great fellow hosteliers. All around epic.

Hi there, thanks for reviewing us. We are pleased that you had a good stay with us. We do apologise about the poor wifi connection; at certain times of the day guests are all skyping home to their families and the system can slow down. We will take a look into this right away, thanks for bringing it to our attention. The last house has a single toilet outside, but just around the corner there are 4 more toilets. We hope to see you again soon. Kind Regards, The Backpack Team

74%

We didn't get the room we had booked but the staff were very friendly and helped us as good as they could so it was ok. We really got along with the staff and had a great time at the hostel.

Hi there, thanks for the review. We are so pleased that you had a good stay with us and that you found our staff to be of good service! We hope to see you again soon. Kind Regards, The Backpack Team.

100%

This place is AMZING!!! I just had come of a 45 day camping trip and i really wanted something chilled and nice. I've stay all around the world but this is up there as the best!! The Pool is the BOMB!!!